Barrister and solicitorAssistant Director Administrative Review Section, Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs
Personal assistant to Ian Temby, Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, and then worked for the Office at its Canberra Regional Office until 1988
Ministerial adviser on energy and environment issues to Dowding Government in WA 1988–1989
Senior Associate in large commercial law firm (civil litigation section) 1989–1991
Regional Counsel for National Crime Authority 1991–2001

House

MLA

Party

Labor
Joined party in 1984, member Black Mountain sub-branch, member ACT Branch Council, member Credentials and Disputes Committees
Member Perth sub-branch 1988–1999, secretary/treasurer 1994–1996, member North Perth sub-branch 1999–2000 and Alexander Heights branch from 2000
Branch delegate to Perth Electorate Council 1988–2000 and Cowan Electorate Council from 2000, vice president Perth Electorate Council 1989–1990
Delegate to all State Conferences from 1988 and to State Executive from 1995
Proxy delegate to National Conference 1998; member Disputes Committee 1995–1996
Member Executive of Labor Women 1996–1999
Member Administrative Committee 1997–1999
Member Committee of Review from 2000
Delegate to State and National Conferences 2015

Date Elected

10 February 2001

Inaugural Speech

-

Inaugural Video

No inaugural video is available as filming did not start until May 2003

MLA Girrawheen from 10 February 2001. Elected to the Thirty-Sixth Parliament for Girrawheen on 10 February 2001 in succession to Edward Joseph Cunningham(retired). Re-elected 2005, 2008, 2013 and 2017.

Parliamentary Party Appointments

Government Whip from 6 March 2001–23 January 2005

Office

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Police and Emergency Services from 27 June 2003–26 February 2005

Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier, Minister for Public Sector Management, Water Resources, Federal Affairs from 26 April 2005–25 November 2005

Minister for Disability Services, Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, Seniors and Volunteering, Minister assisting the Minister for Federal Affairs from 25 November 2005–3 February 2006

Minister for Disability Services, Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, Women's Interests, Minister Assisting the Minister for Federal Affairs from 3 February 2006–8 May 2006

Minister for Justice, Women's Interests, Minister Assisting the Minister for Federal Affairs from 8 May 2006 –9 May 2006

Board of Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital 1991–1994, Legal and Welfare Rights Centre 1987–1988, Renewable Energy Advisory Council 1989–1991 and the Catholic Social Justice Council
National Vice president, Australian Society of Labor Lawyers 1987–1988 and 1994–1996
Member Australian Clerical Officers Association and then CPSU (Community and Public Sector Union)
Chairman Gay and Lesbian Law Reform Committee 2001
Member Premier’s anti-racism Taskforce

Qualifications

LL B (Hon), MA

References

D Black and G Bolton, eds, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia: volume two 1930-2010,Western Australian Parliamentary History Project, Perth, WA, 2011, p. 216.Parliament of Western Australia website. Current Members. Accessed 2 June 2015.